No surprise his No. 1-ranked Pirates are aiming for Saturday’s Division II trophy against Poway at Escondido High.

But it wasn’t always so.

Carroll was a lemon at Orange County’s Kennedy High. And his first six Oceanside years didn’t end with a citrus-flavored Gatorade shower.

Before being all-everything, Carroll was all-wet.

It’s worth peeking at Carroll’s obstacles before he set such high standards on the county’s prep football landscape. We challenge Carroll like he does his players: How did you overcome adversity to become a champion?

Carroll’s Kennedy stint, when he was 26 years old, was a disaster. At JFK, Carroll was IOHH: In Over His Head.

“I was too young when I was hired,” Carroll said. “I didn’t do my homework and picked it for all the wrong reasons.”

Such as?

“It was close to my house and after just getting married, I thought it was a good idea,” he said.

But come uniform day, Carroll discovered his britches were too big.

“I had the brash arrogance of someone who had success and thought I could do anything,” Carroll said, after serving as Anaheim’s Servite High’s defensive coordinator. “I suddenly found out that I’m not a good head coach. I realized that I couldn’t do it and left after three years.”

A do-over was in order, and after a season at Palomar College, Oceanside batted its eyes at Carroll.

“Then I’m 31, and I’m still too young,” Carroll said. “I was still learning to be a high school head coach and I wasn’t good.”

Neither were Carroll’s teams — compared to the powerhouse he constructed. But he knew why.

“We didn’t have a good staff and the players were totally undisciplined,” Carroll said. “We needed some radical changes to be made.”

Carroll’s insecurities as a head coach motivated him to retain assistants not sharing his vibe. Often Carroll’s Friday night messages to coaches were muddled, and it had nothing to do with shoddy head sets.

“We lost some football games that I think we should have won,” Carroll said. “I would have to go in front of the kids and tell them why we lost, and I couldn’t tell them the truth.”

Carroll didn’t lie to himself, making a choice which changed Oceanside’s course. In his 24th season here, it’s still working.

“I made the decision, and it’s been true since, that any football game that we lose is my fault,” he said. “I decided to take full authority and responsibility in all phases of the program.”